Bubble Fish
by MonkeyPajamas
Summary: Bethany's just a little bit too mischievous. Or empathetic, I guess, depending on your side of the situation.


I don't own anything. Except my dog, Bethany, who was the basis for this story. Blame **gypsyscarfwoman** for taking that and making me write this.

There will be more of **Against The World** soon, but this was just a fun diversion.

* * *

"Just give me a minute Weller," Patterson said without looking up from her screen. Even though her back was turned, she could feel him staring at her impatiently. "I wasn't exactly planning on setting up a new phone today," she muttered under her breath.

Jane smiled, shaking her head. She gently pulled her husband's hand, "Come on Kurt. Patterson can just give it to you when it's ready."

"I'll wait." Weller pulled back his hand, his glare intensifying. "It shouldn't take this long anyway."

"Listen, it's not like a normal phone. There's all sorts of security and firewalls I have to install." The blonde turned to face them, "Which is why we usually suggest agents don't get them wet." Exasperated, she held up the bag with Kurt's old phone, still waterlogged enough to see the water sloshing at the bottom. "What the hell happened to this thing?"

Kurt glared, crossing his arms across his chest. "Nothing," he grumbled.

Jane bit her lip as she tried to fight back a smile. She glanced between Kurt and Patterson, trying to see who would break first.

"Listen, if this fell into the toilet, you have to tell me. I have to do all sorts of declassification on this, and I'm not dealing with urine."

Unable to fight it any longer, Jane's laugh rang out. "Kurt, just tell her. It's not that bad."

Kurt let out a slow breath. "It was Bethany," he admitted, grudgingly.

xxxxxx

"Bubble fish! I WANT BUBBLE FISH!" They could hear Bethany's screams before they even opened the door.

"Sorry guys, she's obsessed," Allie offered by way of apology. "There's a new app she loves on my phone, and I used it on the plane to keep her distracted, but now…" Allie looked at the screaming toddler. "Bethany, look, it's Daddy and Jane."

Bethany paused for a moment before resuming her tantrum, "BUBBLE FISH!" She stomped her foot and her mouth instantly twisted into an unmistakable expression – it was the exact same one that Kurt had when dealing with a difficult case.

"Hey, Bethy. Guess what we got for you?" They'd gone shopping for a few new toys the day before, and although they were hoping to save them for the girl's birthday in a few weeks, Jane figured it was better to break one out now, before the tantrum worsened. Bethany had just arrived – they needed to start the weekend on a good note.

Bethany tilted her head, trying to peer around the adults, seeing if she could find something new.

"Come on," Jane reached out her hand and they walked over to the closet where they stashed the toys. Jane reached up, grabbing the first one she found off the shelf, and Bethany grabbed for it excitedly.

That crisis momentarily avoided, Kurt turned his attention back to Allie. "Bubble fish?" his voice teasing her.

"Don't judge me. It's the stupidest game ever, but she loves it. You click the screen and the fish eats the bubbles…. You know what? It kept her calm for the entire plan ride. I don't care." Allie pushed the suitcase into Kurt's chest, smiling. "Now you get to deal with her attitude." She glanced behind him to where Bethany was playing with Jane. "Although, she seems to have forgotten all about it. Thank goodness. But uh, good luck." She walked over to Bethany to see the new toy and start the goodbyes.

Far too soon it was evening, and Jane and Kurt were lying on the couch, exhausted after spending all day running around with Bethany. Jane was resting her head in his lap, when all of a sudden, she heard and unfamiliar "Bloop Bloop" coming from his phone.

"What's that?"

"That Bubble Fish thing that Bethany was going on and on about," Kurt tapped his phone, causing a cascade of bubbles to appear on the screen. "I wanted to see what it was about."

"You actually downloaded it?" Jane was giddy. "You never download games! Let me see!" Jane grabbed for her phone.

"That's not true! I have lots of games."

"Oh what? Tetris?" Jane clicked on his screen, watching the fish eat the bubbles. "That's it? That's the whole game?"

"What were you expecting? Trolls or whatever from Wizardville?" Kurt laughed. "It's for kids."

"Ah, so finally a game you can enjoy," Jane teased, handing him back his phone. "You pop your bubbles. I've got a quest to finish."

The next day, Kurt was standing in the kitchen, lifting up papers and other miscellaneous items. "Jane? Have you seen my phone?" he called out.

"Bubble Fish?" Bethany asked excited from the living room, where she was playing with Jane.

"Not now Bethany. Daddy needs to find his phone."

Jane sighed as she stood up to help Kurt look. "When did you last have it?" she asked, looking around the couch.

"Earlier today. I sent Allie those pictures you took of Bethany at the playground. And I could have sworn I put it right here."

Jane grabbed her phone from the end table. "This will be faster," she said, dialing Kurt's number. "It's gotta be here somewhere." But when neither of them could hear it ringing, she added, "Did you leave it at the playground?"

"No! I was standing right here. I hit send, then grabbed some water from the fridge. It has to be here!" Kurt was growing frustrated. "Reade was going to call me with an update on the Nibert case, and – "

"Daddy! I play Bubble Fish!" Bethany said, pulling on his hand.

"You can't play Bubble Fish right now, Daddy can't find…" Kurt paused, staring down at his daughter. "Bethany, did you take Daddy's phone so you could play Bubble Fish?"

Bethany smiled, pulling Kurt's hand. He followed her, his stomach dropping as she led him to the bathroom. There he saw the water splashed on the floor, the big bucket they used at bath time sitting in the middle. "Fishie in his tank!" Bethany exclaimed excitedly.

Kurt felt sick as he looked into the bucket. As he feared, there was his phone, surrounded by Bethany's bath toys. "Bethany!" he groaned, reaching in to grab his waterlogged phone.

"No Daddy!" Bethany tried to stop him. "Fishie playing with friends!"

"No! Those are _your_ toys, not fishie's." His voice started to rise, "You broke Daddy's phone. B – "

"Kurt…" Jane's voice sounded in warning. "She just wanted Fishie to play with some friends."

Kurt glanced down at his daughter, her lips already pouting. "I say sowwy."

"Let's go back and play with the animals, okay Bethany? Daddy needs a minute." Jane grabbed Bethany's hand and gave Kurt a quick kiss. "She's two. It's just a phone."

Kurt glared at her as they walked away. "Maybe I should have her put your phone in the tank to play with friends."

Jane turned and smiled. "I wasn't the one who downloaded that silly app in the first place."


End file.
